"So what's up with you and Dean?" Matt blurted out suddenly. I stopped and followed his line of vision to where Dean was talking to Stefan. I shifted awkwardly on my feet, struggling to meet Matt's eyes. "Matt, Dean is your best friend and the last thing either of us wants to do is hurt you," I started.
"I'm, uh, I'm actually gonna go back to the hospital," Matt cut me off. "I wanna be there when she wakes up. Get the real story about what happened last night." Before I could say anything, Matt shuffled away from me.
"What was that all about?" a voice said behind me suddenly. I jumped back in fright and whirled around to see who snuck up on me. That's when I came face-to-face with a pair of familiar forest green eyes. I relaxed my shoulders and hit him on his arm.
"Damn it, Dean, don't scare me like that!" I hissed. Instead of looking smug like he usually would, he looked apologetic. "Sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you," he said. I tried to rein in my surprise. Why was Dean acting so strangely? He was perfectly fine when I saw him earlier.
"It's fine, Dean," I breathed, nearly forgetting why he apologized. "But you look like the exact opposite." I noticed him shift on his feet weirdly. "Do I?" he remarked. I nodded. "Well, it's probably just 'cause..." He trailed, "you know, I had a pretty long day and all that so."
"Right."
"So, uh, what was Matt saying earlier; is Vicki alright?" he quickly changed the topic. "Uh, yeah, she's okay, but they wanna keep her one more night just to be safe," I answered. "That's great. Really... Great!"
We fell into an awkward silence, which was a sharp contrast to the typically jovial mood that hangs over us. However, instead of hanging over us, this new awkwardness seems to hang between us causing this odd sense of separation. Then I realized... "You overheard Matt and I talk about what's going on between you and me, didn't you?"
"I may have caught the tail-end of that exchange," he mumbled, letting out a sheepish laugh.
I balked at him. "Oh, my God, Dean."
"It's okay, well, it will be," Dean said dismissively.
I scoffed loudly.
"Possibly... After a while," Dean added with slight uncertainty.
I groaned. "Please don't tell me that I just ruined your relationship with Matt?" "Probably not, I think," he responded. I shot him a look and he raised his hands in surrender. "Hey, Lena, take it easy," he consoled, putting his hands on either side of my face. "Look, if you're really that worried about this whole thing, then I'll talk to him about it and get a clear answer, okay?" I took a deep breath, before nodding and giving him a small smile which he returned.
"Alright, then. I gotta go do something with Stefan right now so I'll be busy, but I promised we'll work it all out," he sighed. "Okay," I replied. He pulled me in close and hugged me, as I wrapped my arms around him. When we broke away, he tilted my head upwards and planted a chaste kiss on my forehead. I closed my eyes in contentment, wanting to savor the moment. But then when I opened my eyes, he was gone.
I searched in every direction, but neither Dean nor Stefan was anywhere in sight. It was almost like they had both disappeared into thin air.